Best performance in a play

[G]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 9:39am

Michael Gambon "The Caretaker"
Judi Dench "Amy's View"

Both were just out of this world.

[ponine24601]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 9:52am

phylicia and audra in 'a raisin in the sun'. they were PHENOMINAL!

[LaurenB]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 10:20am

Stephen Dillane in The Real Thing.

Posted: 7/18/04 at 10:41am

Ian McKellan in AMADEUS
Julie Harris in THE BELLE OF AMHEARST

[mallardo]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 10:51am

Carla Gugino in After the Fall - go see her.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 11:00am

Raul Esparza. The Normal Heart. The end.

Okay, I lied... that's not the end. I'm going to try to keep this post semi-short, but I do need to justify that. Like I said in my original post about The Normal Heart, I'm pretty young, but for my age I've seen a lot. The Normal Heart was the first time I'd ever seen Raul perform, but it didn't take very long for me to decide that he was THE most talented actor I have ever had the privilege of seeing. Everything about his performance, IMO, was absolute perfection. His timing was flawless. His expressions were flawless. I LOVED that he gave Ned a sort of sweet, cuddly side, but at the same time he was able to portray the fighter that Ned is. It was obvious that he poured everything he had into that performance. I heart him, and now I'm done.

Updated On: 7/18/04 at 11:00 AM

[Matt_G]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 11:05am

Frank Wood in SIDE MAN. He was simply devistating in that show and rightfully won himself a Tony for it.

Updated On: 7/18/04 at 11:05 AM

[ponine24601]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 11:08am

we all knew the raul thing was coming.

[G]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 11:10am

Side Man didn't really do well in London- mind you, they gave us Jason Priestley.

Nice new icon, Matt!! :)

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 11:12am

*hangs head in shame*

I know, I'm too predictable. But, I think you do have to give me props for NOT ONCE mentioning how sexy I think he is. That post was purely based on talent, so I did well!

[TorontoBoy]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 11:22am

Ian McKellen - Amadeus
Geraldine Page - Agnes Of God

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 11:37am

Glenda Jackson - Macbeth

Posted: 7/18/04 at 11:42am

Lily Tomlin in THE SEARCH FOR INTELLIGENT SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

[thirdrowcenter]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 5:59pm

In a play, I have to say Jefferson Mays stands out in my mind
for "I Am My Own Wife."

[Testing1232]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 6:05pm

Brian Dennehy and Elizabeth Franz in "Death of a Salesman" !!

Amazing !!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 6:32pm

So many -- here's some of the ones that stand out:

Elizabeth Ashley in "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof"
Ashley, Geraldine Page and Amanda Plummer in "Agnes of God"
Zoe Caldwell in "Medea"
Zoe Caldwell & Jason Robards in "A Long Day's Journey Into Night"
Vanessa Redgrave in "A Long Day's Journey Into Night"
Vanessa Redgrave in "Orpeus Descending"
Uta Hagen in "Collected Stories"
Uta Hagen in "Mrs. Klein"
Julie Harris in "The Belle of Amherst"
Stephen Spinella, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeffrey Wright and Kathleen Chalfant in "Angel In America"
Kathleen Chalfant in "Wit"
Rosemary Harris and George Grizzard in "A Delicate Balance"
Kathy Bates in "Night Mother"
Charles Dutton in "The Piano Lesson"
Ian McKellan in "Amadeus"
Ian McKellan in "Acting Shakespeare"
Maggie Smith in "Lettice and Lovage"
Alan Bates in "Forune's Fool"
Judi Dench in "Amy View"
Charles Ludlam and Everett Quinton in "The Mystery of Irma Vep"
Trazana Beverly in "For Colored Girls"
Al Pacino, JJ Johnston and James Hayden in "American Buffalo"
John Kani and Winston Ntshona in "The Island"
Nathan Lane in "The Lisbon Traviata"
James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer in "Othello"
James Earl Jones in "Fences"
Tandy and Cronyn in "The Gin Game"
Swoosie Kurtz, John Mahoney and Christine Baranski in "The House of Blue Leaves"
Maureen Stapleton in "The Little Foxes"
Harvey Fierstein in "Torch Song Trilogy"
Stephen Dillane in "The Real Thing"
Joe Mantegna in "Glengarry Glen Ross"
Lily Tomlin in "The Search For Signs"
John Malkovich in "Burn This"
Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse in "How I Learned to Drive"
Mark Ruffalo in "This Is Our Youth"
Eileen Heckart in "The Waverly Gallery"
J. Smith-Cameron in "As Bees In Honey Drown"
Janet McTeer in "A Doll's House"
Cherry Jones in "The Heiress"
Jefferson Mays in "I Am My Own Wife"
Viola Davis in "King Hedley II"

Updated On: 7/18/04 at 06:32 PM

[SammyGal]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 6:38pm

I agree with Raul Esparza.
I also thought Freddie ____ in The Normal Heart was amazing too.

[Mamie]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 6:46pm

Robert Sean Leonard in "The Invention of Love"
Swoozie Kurtz in "The Guys"

[chasing_rainbows43]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 7:05pm

Michele Pawk, Hollywood Arms. The definition of devastating.

Woohoo for the nod to Frank Wood, didn't see Side Man but a nicer, more down to earth man you could not meet.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 7:13pm

Pauline Collins - Shirley Valentine

[Thoroughly Modern Cara]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 7:17pm

Ok I'm gonna go the predictable route as well...of course Raul Esparza in The Normal Heart. My reasons have been justified my me and many others MANY times so I'll spare you...for now!

[SNAFU]

Posted: 7/18/04 at 8:36pm

Wow, Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn in The Gin Game! What phenonenal performers! I now feel privilaged to have seen them on stage!

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 7/19/04 at 12:50am

I completely agree with phylicia and audra. AMAZING performances... I completely felt for their characters.

[Corine2]

Posted: 7/19/04 at 12:54am

Raul Esparza- The Normal Heart
Swoozie- Frozen

[CJR]

Posted: 7/19/04 at 12:57am

Michele Pawk, Donna Lynne Champlin and Linda Lavin in Hollywood Arms. That whole cast was absolutely amazing, actually.